Disabled middle-distance runner Abdtellatif Baka of Algeria destroyed the 1500m Paralympic world record after winning gold at the Rio Paralympic Games on Monday. That’s a feat that’s impressive enough on it’s own, but what’s particularly incredible is that his time beats that of 1500m Rio Olympic gold medal winner Matthew Centrowitz by more than 1.7 seconds.
As stated in The Independent, Baka’s historic performance stands as the fastest 1500m time recorded by an able-bodied or disabled athlete in Rio over both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Baka finished the sub-one-mile race (0.